Passing Ships
by haunted-eternity
Summary: He was prepared for the one step forward three steps back. He just didn't know it would happen so quick. He was prepared to catch her before she could make all three steps back. Ben/Kate. Tag to 2.09


Thank you all for your lovely reviews of my first ben/kate story. I didn't (and don't) have much free time to respond to much around here. But I do appreciate every hit and especially the reviewers. Especially for a first story. It really motivated me to write this one, so to all who reviewed, I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. :)

This is basically a tag to Kiss Me, Kate. But also kind of makes hints at the preview of 2.10. I was thinking about doing a Ben/Lauren scene that we missed from the episode. (Of course, not romantically. I love their antagonistic but loveable friendship. And I hope we get to see more of that). So, lemme know if you would like to see those two talking about the common lady in their lives when Ben is not so sober.

* * *

It was late, long past closing time. But Kate didn't have anywhere to be at the moment. With her lights already extinguished for the night by Leo earlier, she sat alone in the dark. She was avoiding Lauren's house and contact with most people. She pulled out a piece of paper tucked into the back of her drawer. Unfolding it as she watched the office across from her. The light was still on, he was hunched over his desk, writing something down on a piece of legal paper slowly. Kate leaned back in her chair and sighed heavily, thinking back to the week she had.

Leo had left a piece of paper on her desk tonight, two days after he had figured out she was at Justin's house. He hadn't talked to her unless it regarded work, and she was slightly put off as she watched him converse with Ben over tacos in Ben's office. Kate had asked what this was about, but he told her he was sworn to secrecy and bros had codes. Her eyebrows rose at his comment, wondering when her assistant and Ben had become friends, let alone _bros_. She looked down at the piece of paper and sighed out loud. She knew she had hurt Ben's feelings as soon as he blew her off the next night.

He was nonchalant about rescheduling dinner, and despite how aloof she seemed, she knew he had feelings for her. Her signals might be mixed up most of the time regarding relationships. But his were rather obvious, rather obvious since the first night they had met. He still believed truth was really the way to her heart. And he wouldn't just take her like she suggested to do, he would woo her; taking his time to get to know her likes and dislikes. Her quirks and her habits. How she took her coffee depending on the coffee cart they went to. But she didn't want to be wooed when she couldn't stay afloat in her sinking personal life.

She pressed the small button on her phone and briefly lit the paper with the white backlight. She traced the strong, clean lines of Ben's superhero-esque face in Leo's drawing. Only slightly miffed that he drew her in a Catwoman-like suit. If she were honest with herself, she didn't know what she wanted. From anything or anyone. Truthfully, she just wanted to be on her boat again. Where she could hold onto the past. Where she could be in the spiritual presence of the one person who at least understood how she functioned. Although, Ben did have her pegged instantly: both in the bar and in his car the first and second time they met.

There was something churning under the surface, regarding her feelings for Ben. After all, he wouldn't have rendered her speechless after the kiss. She wouldn't have told "Joe" that he was an idiot, but not the stupid kind. He wouldn't be her India. He was mysterious, dark, full of surprises, flashy, colorful, money hungry.

But as she thought about his actions over the past few weeks, when money was few and far between, he stayed by her side. He showed her a side he would never show Lauren. And despite saying that he thought he could win, she knew he presented it to the judge because of her. She never received this attention from Justin from when they were married or her father much after he started Reed and Reed. Perhaps that was why she started avoiding Ben like he was a leper. He knew her better than she knew herself. With just one look, he would see the current of emotion, what she was thinking, planning, feeling. It was odd and comforting at the same time. Right now, it was mostly odd.

Her conscience had been wrought with guilt the moment she woke herself up in Justin's bed. It had been nearing midnight and she had told Justin she needed to go home and change. When she wrapped her trench coat over her form, she grabbed the new dress she had bought for her not-date date. She had bought the dress to see what Ben would think but ended up showing it to Justin instead. She didn't want any part of her outfit anymore. She would never wear any part of it when she knew she would see Ben. It would only remind her of what she did to him. Or in this case, what she didn't do with him. As she leaned her head against the cab door that night, on the way back to Lauren's house, she realised how much she had actually wanted to see Ben out of the office. To see if the side he saved for her was really the side she would see out of Reed and reed. She would have that secret hold over him, if it were true. But now, as she thought some more, he wouldn't want her after she told him she had slept with Justin. He would either let her go or double down and try even harder to win her back. Not that he had her in the first place, or that she was a trophy to be won. She had to make the first step, however. Because he would blow her off until she approached him. Of course they would work together, in that awkward way coworkers do when you find out you both like each other. That was what she gained from him playing the avoidance card the day after their not-date/business dinner was halted.

Kate realised as the week went on, Leo and Lauren had slowly been freezing her out. Leo didn't bring her coffee in the morning; Lauren didn't buy any of the food she liked from the store. She was slowly coming to terms that sleeping with Justin had the opposite effect of how she felt it would go. At least Ben had a reason to be miffed with her. She had blurted it out at the worst moment. She had been jealous of the ex-girlfriend that came looking for him and his new law firm. She had been jealous because he seemed to be spending more time with Leo and Lauren, and she didn't have a clue as to why. She didn't realise why the others were being so cool and yet friendly at the same time. They were only speaking to her if they absolutely need to.

She had missed his presence at her door, at the most inopportune times. She hated his absence, even if he was a mere few feet away. This feeling was strange and she had only felt it once before in her life. But that person wasn't just a few feet away like Ben was now. She saw Ben leaving his office and decided to confront him.

He stopped on his way out the door after hearing her call his name. He wasn't sure what made him stop, briefcase in hand, coat on. Essentially, he was ready to leave for the night.

"I'm afraid of change," she blurted out from the top step. She looked disheveled, her skirt was slightly askew and it looked like she had been running her hands through her hair for a while now.

His eyebrows lifted and for a split second, he couldn't hide the surprised face.

"I've had a lot of change in my life recently. I don't like change, Ben. I don't like conflict, not really," she started again.

"It was dinner, I wasn't planning to propose or anything," Ben sighed.

"I'm not making excuses, I'm just trying to tell you something so you'll at least understand where I'm coming from," Kate told him.

He took a step closer, set his briefcase down by his feet and crossed his arms over his chest.

"The night of our dinner, date, whatever you want to call it," Kate began. "I went to see Justin. I needed him to do something for the city-bus mediation and I don't know why I stayed."

"Because he was once something constant," Ben supplied.

"Aren't I supposed to hate him for cheating on me? Wouldn't that be a detractor?" Kate asked.

He believed they were rhetorical questions until he looked up at her. Her stance was now tired, worn down. She really shouldn't be having this talk with him when she was this vulnerable. He was only going to make it worse.

"Yeah, you are. You're supposed to find a rebound guy and shove it in his face. Tell him you're doing fine without him. All that stuff Kelly Clarkson and every other pop singer preaches about on the radio," Ben told her. "But I'm not your rebound guy, Katie. I don't play that card, at least not with you."

She bit her lip and nodded slowly. She pulled the fortune she received in her fortune cookie from Justin's and held her hand out.

"What's this?" he asked, not moving from his perch. He still stood a few steps away.

"Fate, being a fickle, fickle bitch. Destiny. Whatever you call it," Kate shrugged.

He reached his hand out and plucked the piece of fortune from her hand. Despite not wanting to touch her, he had and it still gave him mixed feelings.

"Fear is your worst enemy," he read and then looked up at her for an answer.

"That night, I was feeling too many things. And then Leo called and basically told me he knew you and I were becoming a thing, and then you texted me. I don't know what happened or why I slept with Justin. I just know that it was a one time thing, not going to happen again," she said.

"How do you know? Did you call Miss Cleo? Get your life predicted?" Ben asked. He thrust the fortune back in her direction. Somehow the words that came out of her mouth stung him. Even though he knew it that night after he went to Leo's. He hadn't thought about it, didn't want to think about it, ever.

"I told him that today. I wasn't mediating. I don't go to the courthouse for fun," she said. "I didn't stay that long."

"I don't want to hear this, Katie. Not now, not ever," he said. He picked up his briefcase and turned.

"Ben, stop," she said. When he kept walking, she moved down the steps and ran in front of him to block the elevator.

"Let me go, Kate," Ben said as he watched her move her body in front of the elevator doors. He could push her out of the way, but he didn't want to. He wasn't that kind of guy.

"No, just let me get this out," she told him.

"Have at it," he said. He gestured with his arm that she had the floor.

"You're an idiot," she began. She watched his face morph into a frown and quickly continued. "But not the stupid kind. You're… the other kind of idiot. The kind that likes a girl who doesn't like chance, creates constant chaos by always being late to everything, and fears her own shadow sometimes."

He still looked unconvinced.

"I don't want everything to tear asunder. I'm terrified of nothing and everything. And I'll be the first to admit, I have no idea how to do this kind of thing," Kate said honestly. "We can't run a multi-million dollar law firm if none of the partners are talking to each other."

"Don't," he said abruptly. "Don't turn into Lauren right now. You don't care about the firm. I know you care, you just don't care about the logistics of how its inner workings, work.

"I don't know what else to say, Ben," she whispered. "I never had this issue with anyone else. I never had anyone else who pushed into my life as much as you do."

"There are good things about change, Kate. You just have to want it. Just shuffle the deck of cards you hold. See what happens," Ben said. He caught the elevator doors opening and stepped closer.

"I think if you stay, something bad will happen. I think I might hurt you. You don't want to get hurt, do you?" she asked quietly. Her fingers pressed into his chest and he stopped in his place. "Leo said that I have a tendency to blow things up."

"Some might say quite literally," he noted. Her boat had definitely, literally blown up.

"And you have the tendency to make things a whole lot worse and then leave. That's what you told me the night we met in the bar," she pointed out.

"I've stopped wanting you, Kate. I once wanted something from you and look how well that turned out," Ben said. He refused to look at her when speaking.

"You're lying," she told him matter of factly. "If you really meant that, you would have called me Katie. You don't call me Kate unless you're mad or frustrated at me."

"I thought you liked Kate better than Katie," he said.

"Not from you," she whispered. Her voice so low, he was wondering if he was supposed to miss the whisper.

She was frustrated at his circumventing the situation and did the one thing she knew would tell her for sure if he was really over her.

Her fingers ran up his coat and she was promising herself to not get sidetracked by the soft fur lining. She licked her lips in turn and pushed herself closer. In her heels, she was the perfect height, as she lifted her chin and firmly planted her lips onto his.

Her eyes closed involuntarily and she took his lower lips into her mouth, running her tongue along the firmly shut mouth of her partner. She stepped closer and her whole body came into contact with his, surprising him just enough that his mouth opened slightly. Taking the opportunity before the window closed, she sighed into his mouth when he began to respond. He pressed her against the elevator bank and ran his hand through her hair, fisting his softly at the base of her neck.

He let up first; the need for a breath came on far to early for either of their liking.

"You fight dirty, Katie," he told her softly.

"Is there any other way to fight, Benny?" she smiled up at him, laughing at her joke.

He pressed the button for the elevator and they waited for it to signal its arrival. She was still pressed against the wall, pressed against him. His fingers were still in her hair and he was studying her carefully. She looked sad, still. He thumbed her cheekbone and a small smile fleetingly played out on her lips.

"I have to get my things," she whispered, not wanting to break the first moment of peace she had felt this week.

His fingers removed themselves from her hair and he pushed back on his heels to stand instead of lean. She slipped away from his grasp and he let her go, watching as she walked back to her office. The elevator doors slid open and he made his way inside. He had disappeared behind the doors before she made it out again.

She stood dejectedly, waiting for the elevator to reach her floor. She had been so sure that he would wait for her, maybe even give her a ride to Lauren's house. But when she arrived back at the elevator banks, he was nowhere to be found.

When the elevator doors finally opened on her floor, she made her way into the elevator without looking up. Almost immediately, she came into contact with a warm, solid mass. All 153 pounds of him.

"Hi," she whispered. Almost as if she couldn't believe he would still be there.

"You need a ride to Lauren's?" he asked.

"Yeah," she whispered honestly.

He pressed the button to the parking garage and didn't say another word. He didn't know what to do next. He wasn't in control of this situation, she was. If it was up to her to make the moves, to make the efforts he had made, perhaps they could work. As if on cue, her hand curled into the crook of his elbow as they rode the elevator down.

It was a step forward, and he was prepared for the three steps back she would take. But he'd at least try to catch her backwards momentum at step two. As challenging as it would be to try and work this out with Kate, there was no other challenge he would rather accept. For once, he had hope and a promise. It would be enough, for now.

* * *

fin.


End file.
